The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
said in a statement issued yesterday (Thursday) that
it regretted no agreement had been reached during recent
discussions with the government on the establishment
of a new UN human rights presence in Rwanda. "Such
a new operation could have built upon the work of the
Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda (HRFOR) on the
basis of a joint strategy with the government of Rwanda
designed to protect human rights by strengthening the
rule of the law," the statement noted. Talks on
a new mandate for HRFOR failed over the issue of monitoring
which the government wanted dropped.

The UN said yesterday it was pulling out its human rights
observers from the country because the government would
not allow them to do their work. News reports said
the mission was being forced to pull out by the end
of July following the failure of last-minute talks
led by Enrique der Host, deputy to Human Rights High
Commissioner Mary Robinson.

The UN statement said monitoring was "an effective
tool" to identify problems and said the UN must
retain the mandate and means to monitor human rights
in the country in addition to helping to build and
strengthen national institutions. "As the parties
were not able to agree to the inclusion of monitoring
in the mandate, no follow-on presence to HRFOR, which
concludes its work at the end of July, is envisaged
at this time," the statement said.

AFP quoted Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana, who led
the government side in the talks, as saying Rwanda
remained open to more talks, but indicated he would
not make concessions on the question of monitoring.
"White men in big cars send the wrong message
to the Rwandan people," he was quoted as saying.

The UN has criticised Rwanda for the public execution
last May of genocide perpetrators and a recent UN human
rights report said Rwandan army soldiers had taken
part in the killing of civilian refugees in eastern
DRC during last year's war to overthrow the late dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko.

BURUNDI: New MPs appointed

Members of Burundi's new enlarged transitional assembly
have been appointed, Burundi radio reported yesterday.
The number of deputies now stands at 121, with extra
members from previously unrepresented political parties
and civil society, according to AFP.

Foreign Minister discusses sanctions with Ugandan counterpart

Burundi Foreign Minister Severin Ntahomviukiye, who
is in Kampala, yesterday held talks with his Ugandan
counterpart Eriya Kategaya and reiterated the call
to lift sanctions. According to Ugandan radio, Kategaya
said there had been positive steps after last month's
Arusha meeting but he said any decision to lift the
embargo would be taken collectively by the region.
Uganda and Tanzania have previously adopted a hardline
attitude towards the sanctions issue.

Heads of commissions named for Arusha talks

Meanwhile, the Agence burundaise de presse and diplomats
named some of the provisional heads of committees that
will deliberate in Arusha next week. Five committees
were formed at the end of last month's talks to form
a basis for discussion at the next round of talks.
Diplomats told IRIN the list is not yet conclusive.
Two names have been put foward to head the committee
on peace and security: General Toumani Toure of Mali
and General Romeo Dallaire of Canada. Professor Tasisi
Kabwegere of Uganda has been named to chair the committee
on the nature of the conflict, while Justice Richard
Goldstone has been nominated to head the committee
on democracy and good governance. A Canadian diplomat,
Stephen Lewis, has been put foward as head of the committee
on economic development and reconstruction. The head
of the committee on guaranteeing implementation of
agreements reached at Arusha has yet to be named.

UGANDA: Local NGO suspends operations after police raids

A Ugandan NGO, the Foundation for African Development
(FAD), is to suspend its activities after police disrupted
three of its political education seminars, AFP reported
today. It quoted FAD's chief executive Anthony Ssekweyama
as saying the organisation was seeking explanations
from the Ugandan authorities following raids by riot
police, armed with batons and assault rifles. According
to AFP, the Ugandan authorities claim FAD's seminars,
based on the theme 'Democracy and Human Rights', covered
topics with political implications and could disrupt
peace.

SUDAN: Plane to evacuate WFP workers

WFP said two of its workers were hiding in the bush
in south Sudan's Western Upper Nile region last night
after sending an emergency radio message asking to
be evacuated from the Leer area. A WFP spokesperson
said the employees, both Kenyans, had been distributing
food. "They didn't have time to give details,
they just said the had to run and asked for an evacuation
plane to be sent in," she said. The plane left
today and is due back in Nairobi this evening. The
spokesperson told IRIN that WFP welcomed the ceasefires
"but they are not enough to stop the fighting
in all areas that are affected by the crisis".

WFP plans more food deliveries in Bahr al-Ghazal

WFP plans to deliver 15,000 mts of food per month for
the next four months for an estimated 2.4 million beneficiaries
in areas served by OLS, senior UN officials said yesterday.
They said WFP would deliver the food to 89 locations,
of which 37 are in the famine- and war-hit southern
province of Bahr al-Ghazal. The agency will use a fleet
of 13 cargo aircraft based at four locations; Khartoum,
Al Obeid, Lokichoggio and Nairobi. In addition, OLS
will double the number of feeding centres to 38 in
order to cope with the "alarming increase"
in malnutrition. The latest figures were made available
during a joint press conference in Khartoum yesterday
by Martin Griffiths and Tun Myat, respectively OCHA's
Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and WFP's Director
of Resources and External Relations.

Nairobi, 17 July 1998, 14:00 gmt

[ENDS]

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